Chapter VIII.

Of the grace of God and the freedom of the will.

And this care of His and
providence with regard to us the Divine word has finely described by
the prophet Hosea under the figure of Jerusalem as an harlot, and
inclining with disgraceful eagerness to the worship of idols, where
when she says: “I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread,
and my water, and my wool, and my flax, and my oil, and my
drink;” the Divine consideration replies having regard to her
salvation and not to her wishes: “Behold I will hedge up thy way
with thorns, and I will stop it up with a wall, and she shall not find
her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, and shall not
overtake them: and she shall seek them, and shall not find them, and
shall say: I will return to my first husband, because it was better
with me then than now.”17621762Hosea ii. 5–7. And again our
obstinacy, and scorn, with which we in our rebellious spirit disdain
Him when He urges us to a salutary return, is described in the
following comparison: He says: “And I said thou shalt call Me
Father, and shalt not cease to walk after Me. But as a woman that
despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised Me, saith the
Lord.”17631763Jer. iii. 19, 20. Aptly then, as
He has compared Jerusalem to an adulteress forsaking her husband, He
compares His own love and persevering goodness to a man who is dying of
love for a woman. For the goodness and love of God, which He ever shows
to mankind,—since it is overcome by no injuries so as to cease
from caring for our salvation, or be driven from His first intention,
as if vanquished by our iniquities,—could not be more fitly
described by any comparison than the case of a man inflamed with most
ardent love for a woman, who is consumed by a more burning passion for
her, the more he sees that he is slighted and despised by her. The
Divine protection then is inseparably present with us, and so great is
the kindness of the Creator towards His creatures, that His Providence
not only accompanies it, but actually constantly precedes it, as the
prophet experienced and plainly confessed, saying: “My God will
prevent me with His mercy.”17641764Ps. lviii.
(lix.) 11. And when
He sees in us some beginnings of a good will, He at once enlightens it
and strengthens it and urges it on towards salvation, increasing that
which He Himself implanted or which He sees to have arisen from our own
efforts. For He says “Before they cry, I will hear them: While
they are still speaking I will hear them;” and again: “As
soon as He hears the voice of thy crying, He will answer
thee.”17651765Is. lxv. 24; xxx. 19. And in His
goodness, not only does He inspire us with holy desires, but actually
creates occasions for life and opportunities for good results, and
shows to those in error the direction of the way of
salvation.